Regius (36 page)

"Sorry, I'm new here." I
figured repeating the big man's words couldn't do much harm. A girl
of about my own age hidden beneath a transparent pink veil lost her
glare and gave me one of those smiley blushes instead.

"It's okay, just make sure
to always look where you're going or else you'll never come out of
this place alive." She suggested, carefully taking the wicker
basket out of my arms and lifting it back up onto her head. So I'd
lied. My hormones did sometimes get the better of me. Grinning
slowly, I scanned my eyes over her figure, appreciating the view. I
could only chuckle when she giggled, her blush brightening and her
hand suddenly touching my arm, clearly having the same idea. I was
about to throw out my opener line to make sure we'd spend some more
quality time together, but was then interrupted by something that
caught my eye over the girl's shoulder.

"Ugh, sorry. Gotta go." The
girl's mouth dropped open in surprise and all I could do in return
was shrug apologetically before making my way past her and towards
the boy that had led me into this alley in the first place.
Currently, he was having some issues with a tall pale blond that
seemed very intent on rearranging the boy's face. Why? No idea, but
considering the difference in size between the two I figured it
wasn't exactly the fairest of situations and decided it was time
for me to butt in. Why again? I didn't know that for sure either,
but whatever.

"You're lucky we're in the
war free zone, Xao." I could hear the boy say as I approached. His
hand was resting on his lower back, holding onto the back of his
pants while he kept his shoulders squared, his chin tilted high and
I couldn't believe he wasn't pissing his pants.

Nearing his side after some
pushing and shoving through people, I threw an arm over the boy's
shoulder as he swiveled his head my way to stare at me with a
raised eyebrow.

"Hey buddy." I tried to tug
him along with me so we could start walking away. "First time in
the Ranger's Alley, remember? Stop skipping off, I keep getting
lost." I laughed weakly, the situation making it hard to act
humorous as the blond dude carried more muscles than I could care
for.

"Who're you?" At least the
boy wasn't a moron as he whispered soft enough so the block of
steroids couldn't hear. Before I could answer though, the blond
decided to join in on the conversation.

"And here I thought Rangers
swore off any contact with Altors unless it's business. What's up
with your warrior friend there, Dell?"

Dell. Good, now I at least
knew the boy's name. It seemed like a good plan to focus on that
since I didn't understand any of the other crap the man had
sprouted out. What was up with the whole Altor thing?

Dell pursed his lips and
with just a second of hesitation, he slung an arm over my shoulders
in return. "I'm converting him to the mid-evil side. He's a pretty
good candidate. Now piss off, Xao. Go bully someone you can
actually take on."

Can actually take on?
Considering this guy's size, I'd say he'd be able to take both
myself and Dell on no problem. Even if I included Brass to the
math, calculations made the result zero for us three tiny boys. And
that was saying something cause Brass had a mean right hook. I
would know; I'd been on the receiving end of it for
years.

"Leave Melody alone, Dell.
You're not what her family wants for a future." Xao clipped out.
So, it was about a girl.

Dell huffed. "Who're you to
decide what's good and bad for her?"

Xao gave us a tight-lipped
smile. "Her brother."
Oh
.

"Hey, so how about we get
back to that mid-evil converting thing?" I pressed, about to drag
Dell with me, but let out a dumbfounded noise as I couldn't seem to
make him budge. Blinking in surprise at the force this kid
harbored, I shook my head and pinched his shoulder
instead.

"Hey." Wrinkling his nose,
Dell finally detached his eyes off Xao and although he offered me a
nasty glare, he considered my line of thought and nodded before
starting to walk off with me. Once we'd distanced ourselves far
away enough for me to feel better about the situation, I unwrapped
my arm from Dell's shoulder, sighing in relief that things had
ended without violence.

"Thanks." The boy said.
"But if things had gone too far he'd have either been jumped by the
other Rangers, or, ya know, my gun."

Mouth agape, I stopped
walking, staring at Dell's back as he hadn't noticed yet that I'd
been shocked by his words. That's what he'd had his hand over by
the back of his pants? What was this place?

"I believe it's time for me
to go." I managed to get out after having shaken myself. Scratching
the back of my head, I shrugged at Dell and then turned to go and
make my way back to the passage. I hadn't taken three steps and the
boy appeared beside me, his grin comfortable as I eyed him
strangely.

"You really are new to the
Rangers Alley."

"How can you be so
sure?"

"For one, you're going the
wrong way." Reaching over, he grasped my shoulder and then twisted
me around, nudging me so I would walk in the opposite direction.
"The exit is that way."

"Oh." Eying everything
around me a tad more fearfully, I decided he might as well walk me
out since I'd probably get lost on my way back to the garage
anyways.

"So." Dell started, eying
me curiously which was making me slightly uncomfortable. "If you
couldn't move me earlier that means you haven't been triggered
yet." Whatever
that
meant, it led him to frown, his eyes trailing over me with
more attention this time around. I don't know what he was thinking,
but apparently it kicked him into action as he grabbed me by the
shoulders and forced me to stop walking with strength I didn't know
a kid could have.

"Hey, Imma ask you a series
of questions and it's gonna look totally weird because they're
sorta personal. I'm just really curious and do me a favor and
answer them, yeah?" Dell blabbered out. The serious expression on
his face led me to nod my head.

"Awesome. How old are
you?"

"Going on nineteen." Trying
to wiggle free from his grasp, I growled in frustration when I
couldn't budge. "How fucking old are you? You look like a fourteen
year old squirt, which doesn't make sense because a kid that age
shouldn't be able to overpower me."

Blinking at that, he let go
of my upper arms and took a step back, offering me a smile. "I'm
seventeen actually. I get that a lot though. As for my strength,"
He wrinkled his nose, looking at me weirdly for a moment. "Nah..."
He muttered out in disbelief, leaning in closer so he could scan me
thoroughly. Kay, being clueless was starting to get on my
nerves.

"I'm a Ranger. We're born
Altor. Most of us don't need to get triggered as the blood has
mixed too much over the years, but there are still some out there
that need the switch. I'm one of those. I triggered early, which is
funky what with my looking fourteen and all. It's sorta unique. To
Altors anyways, Rangers don't give a damn."

Eye twitching, I repeated
all he said numerous times in my head to see if I could make sense
of it. "What?" Clearly, I couldn't.

Dell's eyes widened and
suddenly he grabbed my wrist and started rushing us towards the
exit. "If someone finds out there's a Civilian in here, there'll be
bloody murder!" I frowned at his words, letting him drag me along
as there was really
nothing
else I could do

"Do you mind starting from
the beginning so I may follow what the hell it is you're trying to
talk to me about?" I could see him grimace, shaking his head as we
continued on our way out. It wasn't long before we saw an arch that
opened with sunlight spilling through, and once we stepped back out
into Cobalt's streets, he finally let go of my wrist.

"How did you pass through
security?!" He suddenly shrieked, quickly eying our surroundings to
make sure nobody was here. When he was reassured, he gestured for
me to follow him. Curiosity killing me slowly inside is what didn't
make me think twice about walking after him.

He moved over to a
building, reaching up to pull himself onto the window ledge before
continuing upwards onto the roof. Wrinkling my nose, I sighed,
cracked my neck, and then set out to mimic him with a tad more
difficulty. Dell reached down to offer me his hand so he could help
me up with more ease than should be natural.

"What security?" I breathed
out, sitting down beside him on the roof edge, my eyes fixed on the
view before me. The city looked awesome from this height, like
being on top of the world.

"There's a transparent
barrier at the entrance and exit of the Ranger's Alley. It keeps
Civilians out." Dell muttered, clearly confused as to how I'd
passed through this 'transparent barrier'.

"Aren't we too old to
believe in magic?" I grinned. He poked me in the side, I retaliated
by smacking him over the back of his head. He pulled on my shirt,
and I then scratched his arm and he bit my shoulder.

"Okay!" I laughed, wincing
at the feel of his teeth. "Enough. Fine. How about you tell me what
it was I saw back there and I'll try and not interrupt?" Letting go
of my arm, he did leave a lot of saliva behind which of course had
me grimacing, but he wiped it off with his own shirt.

"Well, first of all." He
started. "By telling you all I'm gonna tell you, I'm breaking
millions of rules." Good to know. Clearing his throat, he rolled
his neck, preparing himself to tell the tale. "Forget everything
you know about Zinc, since I'm pretty sure most of it is lies, and
if not complete lies, they're definitely twisted truths." How had I
ended up here again?

"All I know about Zinc?" I
repeated.

"It's history, the current
political state, etc."

"Err...forgotten?" Before
he could start, I looked at him curiously. "Why are you willing to
tell me all of this if you're breaking rules by doing so?" I
definitely wanted to know. I had no idea what had gone on these
last long couple of minutes, but I knew there was something very I
was missing.

"Cause I'm Ranger." That
didn't seem like a reason. "We do sorta follow the Altor, Pallium
and Regius rules still, but if it favors us, we ignore them just as
easily. I don't know how telling you will favor me, but I'm
thinking the barrier let you pass for a reason. If the barrier
doesn't oppose you from seeing something you were never supposed to
find out about, then how would my telling you all the truths of
Zinc do any further damage?"

Head whirling, I patted
Dell on the knee. "Okay, slow down. You still didn't explain squat.
So right now all I got floating around in my mind is a big fat ass
question mark."

"Oh, right." Grinning, he
nodded at me. "Centuries ago the Regius invaded Zinc and took
control over the land that belonged to the Palliums. They installed
a kingdom and with their powers, dictated all races, and created a
whole bunch of drama. The Blue Blood they were gifted with by
creatures higher than us makes them mean and cruel. But you already
knew that cause that was never kept from Civilians." I nodded at
his words, recognizing what he'd said so far from Cali's many rants
after our history lessons. Cali had been obsessed with Zinc's
history and he'd been the only reason I'd excelled in that class.
"You know about the rebellion, blah, blah, blah..." Dell waved his
hand flippantly. "The war started because the rebellion fought
against the Regius' cruelty-"

"Blah, blah, blah." Now I
waved my hand flippantly, needing him to skip that part.

"Today the rebellion is
known as the race called 'Altors'." Dell said.

"Why was I mistaken for
one?" I added curiously. Dell grinned, reaching up and undoing the
red turban that hid away his hair. Once it was gone, he shook his
head, letting long shaggy hair the color of black I'd only seen on
a few, myself, Sol, Cali, Lupinus and Acacia, fall out.

"You look like one. Your
hair and eyes match the color of Altors. So does your skin, by the
way." Pressing his forearm against my own, he pointed out how our
skins were alike. "There's a key difference when it comes to
Altors. You got the soldiers and you got the Civilians. The
soldiers carry the Blue Blood cell. When they reach adulthood, they
need the trigger to unleash the strength the cell carries. But then
there are those whose blood is very diluted. You gotta be one of
those since you clearly descend from Altors, but since you're
nineteen and can't beat me in a fight, it means you didn't need to
get triggered. Basically, all you got from whatever Altor that once
did the nasty with one of your ancestors, is the good
looks."

"So the Regius, Altors and
Palliums are still their own races while the Civilians believe them
not to be?"

"You know that war that was
said to have ended a couple of centuries ago?" I nodded carefully.
"Yeah, so that's a big fat lie. It's just been moved out of
sight."

"We're being lied too?
Why?" I demanded.

"Cause you guys ain't as
strong as the Regius or Altors. The only reason the Palliums are
included in the war is because the Regius made a serious attempt on
their wellbeing a couple of years back. Before that, our blond
natives were very much neutral, kinda like the Civilians, only they
were aware the war was still ongoing."